MARCH 2023 UPDATE
We just added a packing tutorial video – check it out on the bottom left hand side of the screen! Also, thankfully, our inventory issues seem to be a thing of the past! Orders are filled in 7-10 days and we are incredibly happy to share that update with you all!
SEPTEMBER 2022 UPDATE
We have uploaded a new training video — check it out!
JUNE 2022 UPDATE
We have extrusion! We are machining! We have pricing! So ship time is near! Still having supplier frustrations but we are close to having Great Wall panels on our doorstep. Since we were down for an extended time. we made the decision to upgrade our software and I thought I would fix some accounting challenges and that is a challenge in itself. Over the next few weeks I hope to finish upgrading many of the details (that is why you see a lot of handwritten notes) but finally get shipping Great Walls out the door. They are popular, and popular for a reason. I do apologize for late quotes and shipping delays, but hopefully that is coming to an end!
MAY 2022 UPDATE
I would like to take a moment to get everyone on the same page – as some of you know through conversation, we have not been able to have Great Wall panels extruded for many months. We hit a wall (no pun intended) when Washington put all of the aluminum presses in the country to work pressing out aluminum based electric cars. This pulled our contract aluminum extruders in another direction and extended our lead times for panels out to as much as eighty weeks. This left us with a tremendous inventory gap. We had potential orders but an empty warehouse! Since we had no inventory, we did not take any prepayments or orders BUT, all is not lost. The presses will start rolling our products late next week, once again making panels for us. They will make us a couple thousand panels on the front end which will help us with the backlog. Once pressed, they have to go to machining and then to us for shipping. We are hoping for a late May/early June ship time…but that leads us to the next quandary.
Due to aluminum price volatility, we will not receive pricing until extrusion time! Basically, a “price it and press it” situation. Once we have our costs, we can offer pricing (which I hope will be within two weeks).
Which leads us to the final item to be noted: Kirsten, who had worked for us on the Great Wall since its inception, has moved on. While working for us, she continued her education and received her Master’s in Business Analysis and has now moved on to her dream job within the last week. We knew it was a matter of time and the time came. She is still just down the road from us, but she turned everything back over to me. And who am I? Well, I was the guy in the weeds. I drew the plans for the first Great Wall (Model 1) and my son Steve (who owns a fabrication business) made the first Great Wall. Their shop continues to help us move forward. I understand the engineering very well and the business side even better, but won’t be as bubbly sounding everyday as Kirsten was. My understanding for the Great Wall comes from my ag background as we (our family) own and operate several feed mills and grain elevators. This gives me extreme hands-on knowledge of the challenges facing grain bin rescuers.
My hours are 6:00 am to 5 pm central at 815-864-2723 (ask for Roger). If you have interest, please resend an email to the following address, [email protected] , and we will get you pricing information!
-Roger Coulthard